WATCHMEN – Blackout (2018)
We have been following the career of WATCHMEN, hailing from, Argentina, South America, and despite of not being a country associated with this brand of melodious Hard Rock, I assure you these guys rock on par with the best.
“Blackout” is the title of their new album, for the moment released by themselves. Watchmen were part of the British label Z Records in the past.
Watchmen style has been described as a mix of Whitesnake, Badlands and Burning Rain, and although most the songs on offer here don’t sound as bluesy as the material from these bands, I can easily understand where the comparisons come from: lead vocalist Ivan Sencion.
He’s in possession of a strong voice not that far away from Ray Gillen, Keith St. John and / or David Coverdale, but the guy adds his own touch and despite his native language is Spanish, there’s not accent at sight.
Apart from the great singer, Watchmen are a combo of seasoned musicians; love the rhythm section, the very well placed keyboards and special mention has to go to guitarist Emmanuel Lopez, a guy who can play some serious licks.
Their first album was straight classic hard rock, for the second the band evolved to a more melodic hard style, and now “Blackout” is some kind of a return to the roots; this is classic guitar driven hard rock influenced by the American and British sound.
Title track ‘Blackout’ rips with sharp riffs, a punchy bass ‘guitar’, strong verses and an anthemic chorus. Follower ‘Riot’ is much more melodic, and here appears other influence this band reminds me of: Mr. Big.
‘Closer’ is equally melodious, this time including pianos into the mix in a song structure akin Snakecharmer or Chris Ousey solo. ‘Jump The Gun’ is heavier but always with a hard rock groove in a Burning Rain (Doug Aldrich) vein.
‘Wicked Game’ adds more atmospheres for a sexy midtempo rocker with great bluesy vocals, the great melody of ‘Bloodline’ brings back the Mr. Big feeling or perhaps The Winery Dogs, while ‘Distant Shore’ is the ballad, a hard rock power ballad with keyboards creating a classy hazy aura.
‘Reach For The Sky’ is the ‘melodic rock’ song on the album including lots of synths and sweetened vocals, and of course, it’s one of my favorites from the album.
“Blackout” is a very strong Classic Hard Rock album, very well performed and recorded.
There’s no boundaries for music: these guys from Watchmen may come from the most southernmost country of the planet, but they sound as good as the best exponents from the genre.
Highly Recommended
01 – Blackout
02 – Riots
03 – Closer
04 – Jump The Gun
05 – Wicked Game
06 – Bloodline
07 – Reach For The Sky
08 – Distant Shore
09 – Directive 4
Ivan Sencion – lead vocals
Emmanuel Lopez – guitars
Leonardo Palmieri – keyboards
Sebastian Igino – drums
John Paul – bass
BUY IT !
www.facebook.com/watchmen.oficial
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